March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics
Co. joined Chinese mobile phone makers in expressing concern to
China that Microsoft Corp.’s bid to take over Nokia Oyj’s phone
business may result in higher patent licensing fees, two
government officials familiar with the matter said.

Google and Samsung asked China’s Ministry of Commerce to
make sure that the 5.44 billion euro ($7.5 billion) bid doesn’t
result in higher fees on wireless technology patents that will
remain with Nokia, the two officials said, asking not to be
identified because the request wasn’t made public. They’re also
concerned Microsoft will gain more power over the smartphone
market and may abuse its patents, according to the people.

The two companies join domestic vendors including Huawei
Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. that asked China’s regulators to
set conditions on the deal, according to the officials.
Microsoft and Nokia announced the deal in September after the
Finnish company lost ground in the smartphone market to Apple
Inc.’s iPhone and devices running Google’s Android platform.

Under the deal, Microsoft is buying the hardware business
while leaving most of the wireless patents in Nokia’s control.
Microsoft won European Union approval for the bid on Dec. 4,
while regulators said they would monitor Nokia’s licensing
practices after the close of the transaction.

China’s Ministry of Commerce is conducting an anti-monopoly
review and is likely to approve the deal, the officials said.
The question is whether the ministry will demand the companies
guarantee that the agreement doesn’t result in higher patent
fees, the officials said.

Ministry Review

Google spokesman Taj Meadows and Samsung spokeswoman Jini
Park declined to comment on whether their companies had raised
any such concerns with regulators in China. Two phone calls
today to the press office of the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing
went unanswered.

“This merger application is currently under MOFCOM’s
review and we have no further comment,” Joanna Li, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Microsoft, said in an e-mail today.

The portion of mobile phones running Windows is projected
to almost double to 7 percent in 2018, from 3.9 percent this
year, Framingham, Massachusetts-based market researcher
International Data Corp. reported in February. The share running
Google’s Android system will drop to 76 percent, from 78.9
percent in the same period, IDC reported.